This week marked my son's fifth birthday and with that special day came so many gifts and rewards for this mom, that I simply couldn't stop smiling all day.
The morning started off with Morgan waking up just as the sun was creeping through his window, full alert style, ready to bolt out of bed and asking "Is today my birthday?" Without waiting for the answer her already knew, he jumped up, did some silly five-year-old jig of sorts and then got dressed and washed up faster than I've ever witnessed, in order to see what surprises might await him.
After a few (off-key) rounds of "Happy Birthday", some presents, and homemade cards over breakfast at the kitchen table, I took him to school, where he proceeded to tell every teacher and classmate that today was his birthday. He was simply ecstatic.
I gave a box of Popsicles to his teachers to hand out during snack time and was off to run errands until it was time to go back to school and read a story to Morgan's class, as a special treat for his birthday.
Upon my return to the classroom, I learned something about five-year-olds (them) and 47-year-olds (me). They're limber. I'm not.
Evidently, story time is preceeded by yoga. How challenging could kiddie yoga possibly be, I thought to myself.
Let's just say as I sat on a mat with a dozen or so toddlers who could actually stretch down low enough to hold their ankles while their faces were flat on the floor between their little legs, I had a nice few minute break to a) admire my manicure, b) look around the room and notice all the kids' artwork, c) wonder just how I was going to get off the floor in time to read the story.
In any case, after yoga, I sat in the special teacher's chair, read Laura Numeroff's wonderful If You Give a Dog a Donut to the class, and was truly overjoyed when my normally shy son, came up to where I was sitting and asked if he could help read the story. Hands in his pockets with his cheeks flushed from being so uncharaceristically bold, he sounded out sentence after sentence, turned the pages and was just purely, deliciously proud. After we read the last line, he leaned over, gave me a hug, an "I love you, Mommy" and then turned to face his classmates who were still sitting on their story-time spots. He was grinning from ear to ear.
As I left his school and headed home, I thought to myself that this just might have been one of the best days of my life. Happy Birthday, Mo.
Till Next Time,
Jodi
